Serbian Prime Minister Aleksander Vucic has denied his country is to halt construction on the controversial Russian South Stream gas pipeline project.

The prime minister contradicted a statement by his energy minister who said Serbia would suspend construction until the EU, Bulgaria and Moscow held talks over the Gazprom gas delivery pipeline.

On Sunday Bulgaria announced it was suspending the project after criticism from the EU and US.

Serbia’s Prime Minister Aleksander Vucic told reporters: “Such a decision should be made by the Serbian government and the Serbian government did not sit. As far as we are concerned, everything is going as planned with the South Stream project… If there is any change in this regard, the government will make a decision and you will be informed.”

As instability in Ukraine continues the EU is growing uneasy about an over reliance on Russian gas.

The South Stream project begins in Russia, arriving in Bulgaria at the Black Sea before moving across Serbia and other European countries and finishing in northern Italy.

Gazprom’s 45 billion dollar project is due to begin delivering gas to Europe in 2018.

The South Stream project has been beset by problems since relations between the EU and Russia deteriorated over the situation in Ukraine.